G-Line Opening: Celebrations, Free Rides Planned

ARVADA, CO – RTD's long-awaited G-Line rail service will open with a series of parties and free rides all weekend, April 26-27.

The first eager passengers can board trains for free on the 11.2-mile commuter line when the line officially opens on Friday, April 26 at 9 a.m. at the Wheat Ridge & Ward Station, 12068 W. 50th Place, Wheat Ridge. A ceremony will celebrate "all the line has to offer," a statement from Denver's Regional Transportation Department said.

RTD will offer free rides on the entire rail system on Saturday, April 27.

Parties and celebrations will be held along the line Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at four stations: 41st & Fox, Clear Creek & Federal, Olde Town Arvada and Wheat Ridge & Ward.

Local businesses will also be celebrating. The Denver Beer Company in Olde Town will host a two-day party starting on Saturday. The brewery will even be releasing a new beer called "Ain't Nothin' But a G-Line."

More exciting news: The trains will now observe "quiet zones" along the entire G-Line rail system, the agency said.

"This does not mean you will never again hear a horn," RTD said in a statement. Horns will still be sounded by passenger and rail trains in emergency situations, when workers are on the tracks, or when a train uses "automatic train control."

Existing bus service routes along the G Line will continue as normal. RTD is working on a bus-rail connectivity plan that will roll out in August, the agency said.

Originally scheduled to open in 2016, the roll-out of the G-Line has been fraught with delays and complications, earning it the nickname the "Ghost Line to Nowhere." Arvada residents have been listening to the horns of empty trains passing through the city 21-hours a day since June of 2018.